24 day itinerary – first trip to Japan with my boyfriend.

27 comments

1. For me I thought 3 days at Kyoto wasn’t enough. Make sure you get a place near the Pontocho Alley. I hear a common complaint about Kyoto that it doesn’t feel like how they all imagine it and think of it as a concrete jungle.

   I personally loved Hiroshima. It’s a very different vibe and when I walked out of the Peace Museum, there was this eerie yet magical feeling about the city which I never got from any other city in Japan. Miyajima Island is a quick ferry ride away so check that out too. This is where that famous picture of the tori gate in the sea is from.

   I noticed you missed Nara too! If you love history this city is worth a day trip and is really close to Kyoto and Osaka. It is known to be one of the ancient capital of Japan (I think Kyoto is the traditional capital). Deer I think are overrated there and while I love animals, they are so aggressive.

   If you can, and you guys both love outdoors and physical activity – do the Shimanami Kaido. It’s a 6 island biking trip that ends you up on Shikoku. I think 2 days was a good timeframe and ended the trip at Matsuyama. The famous Spirited Away onsen is based off the Dogo Onsen there. After a bike trek, the onsen will feel amazing.

2. To OP: at Haneda, Keikyu operates buses and trains to Kamata, where you can transit to Tokyu Ikegami Line to Chidoricho.

   The bus is Keikyu no. 95, and it takes about half an hour to “Kamata Station” Bus Stop. Tokyu Kamata Station (IK15) is about a block away west from the bus stop.

   If you ride Keikyu trains, it is Keikyu Airport Line, transfer at “Keikyu Kamata Station” (KK11) to Tokyu Kamata Station.

   Both need transfer, transit time similar (about an hour), so either are valid.

3. Personally, if it were me – I would do it like this with 24 days:

   ​

   Tokyo – 4 Nights

   Kyoto – 4 Nights

   Hiroshima – 3 Nights (includes Miyajima Island = one all day adventure)

   Nara – 2 Nights (Temples and Hiking)

   Kamakura – 1-2 nights (depending when you arrive) It’s the quick getaway from the urban jungle, seaside hotels/hostels. Low key casual Japan, many folks from Tokyo go there for a change of pace.

   Head back to Tokyo – take flight to Okinawa

   Okinawa – 4 nights

   Return to Tokyo – 4 nights (incl. your Disney trip here)

   Return home and cry on the plane.

4. I would do something like this if it’s your first trip

   5 to 7 days in tokyo. Do a day trip to Yokohama and maybe enoshima (fantastic little island to walk around on with hawks everywhere like pigeons)

   5 to 8 days in kyoto. do day trips to nara (deer and temples), Osaka (food and tall buildings), and kobe (steak and a great Port town, go up cable car to the mountain top).

   Maybe do a couple days in Hiroshima (may want to do this before kyoto so you could potentially train from kyoto back to Tokyo and fly to Okinawa in one day. Then do the other half or third in the south)

   I strongly suggest doing day trips to those places above (could always ride to and forth and spend multiple days). Kyoto is great because it’s very close to those 3 places so you can do a base camp. Enoshima is a little further out from Tokyo but is very pretty and doable as a day trip.

   I would not recommend Tokyo Disney. My buddy got me to go there on one of my trips and the rides are literally the exact same as the ones in the US. The writing on the ride is Japanese and they sing in Japanese, but if you’ve been to either Disneyland or Disney world then you’ve already experienced it. If you want some Disney merch with Japanese on it just take the train and hit up the gift shop out front of the station.

   I’ve never been to Okinawa but I’ve heard it’s very different from the rest of Japan. Much more rural and they speak a lot less English (outside the military base). Unless you really want to see beaches and maybe do a little hiking I might cross that off and instead maybe go from Hiroshima to fukuoka or somewhere down in kyushu. Lots of hiking there but there’s more city stuff to do as well.

5. >I have us staying at Voga Corte Chidoricho for the duration of our stay in Tokyo and that will be “home base” for us while we explore Tokyo for the week.

   That’s only barely Tokyo – literally across the river from Kawasaki. I would consider somewhere more central, to be honest.

   >My question is: What is the best way to get from the airport to our apartment at 9pm? I am sure we will be exhausted from the flight and I want to be safe and cautious about getting to the apartment.

   Two people w/ luggage for 3.5 weeks? Just hire a fixed-rate taxi – it’s convenient, it will get you there in peace, it’s way less hassle especially at night after a long flight.

   >Day 8 travel to next destination.

   All this 2-and-3 day city-hopping, combined with jet lag and the stress of traveling, is going to leave you worn out well before you get into Week 3. I would pick your battles – you can set up base in Osaka over a week and travel to Kyoto and Nara, for example.

   >The only thing that is set in stone are our flight tickets, and the apartment in Tokyo (both are fully refundable in case covid doesn’t let us travel).

   Quite frankly your odds of being able to pull this trip off in March 2022 are maybe 5-10% right now, and that’s being incredibly optimistic. I would prepare for 2023.

6. Looking at this, I would recommend spreading out your Day 6 plans into at least one more day if you want to go to all of those places. You can spend a whole day in Ginza alone if you like shopping.

   Broadly, I would recommend spending more time (4-7 days) in Kyoto. I’m biased because it’s my favorite Japanese city, but it will be a good base camp for some of the other activities you enjoy and is also just a fantastic city where a lot of modern Japan meets very traditional and historical sites.

   Okinawa is great but personally I might suggest that you skip it unless it’s high priority. I enjoyed it a lot when I visited but unless you are able and comfortable renting and driving a car, it’s hard to leave the main city/island in my opinion. Adding to that the fact that you have to fly, it is a time consuming place to travel to. Again, it’s a great, great place but logistically might be complicated and not worth the effort.

7. We did a similar trip (24 days) and we were able to squeeze in a jaunt down to Yakushima, which I recommend if you’re into animals and nature – you don’t get much more hardcore nature than Yakushima – about a third of the island is a UNESCO biosphere reserve ! There was monkeys, birds and little crabs everywhere. We didn’t get to see the turtles coming in, we were there at the wrong time of year, but it also has a turtle beach.

   We did:

   3 days Tokyo

   13 days in Kyoto (with day trips to Nara, Osaka, Himeji and an overnight interlude out to Kinosaki onsen, but left our big suitcases at our Airbnb in kyoto)

   2 days in Hiroshima

   1 night in Kagoshima, 3 days in Yakushima

   3 final days in Tokyo.

   The only day that we didn’t get to do anything was the travel day from Yakushima back to Tokyo, which was a 2 hour ferry and 7 hr train ride, but you CAN fly to and from Osaka, it just didn’t work for us. Rest of the trip was all 1-3 hour train trips.

   Recommend the round-island tour and kayaking on the Anbo river.

8. If you love hiking, spend a day in West Tokyo. Hike Mt Mitake (shrine plus hiking trail) or Okutama – loads of trails out that way, you’ll see a completely different side of Tokyo!

9. The place you stay is not especially convenient, like no direct access for the airport and not even close to a JR or subway station. I would personally consider to change to something closer to the Yamanote as it will be much easier to get to the different area of Tokyo you want to visit. In any case, Google Maps is your friend to find itineraty.

   Day 1 to 3 are almost empty, you can do much more than that.

   Senso-ji, a Buddhist temple, they have fortune in English. I do not remember if Asakusa-jinja, the shinto shrine just next to it, had fortune.

   If you ask me, it would make more sense to do Senso-ji, Skytree and Sumida walk in the same day as they are all next to each other. And as other said days 6 is a bit full.

   For day 7, you have to make a choice. You can likely do just one of them. Early march might be to late for Plum blossom and maybe ok for early sakura, otherwise, it will have to wait for the end of the month for sakura.

   In general, I like the order you did for the different location after Tokyo You might want to think a bit about when you are taking the train and moving between cities, that can make a difference on the number of nights in each city.

   For example, you do not have to stay at Kurashiki, you can wake up in Hiroshima, take the train to Kurashiki, visit and continue to sleep in Osaka that night, just leave your luggage in a coin locker at the station.

   For the number of days in each, it generally make sense, just check what you want to do and see in each. For example, I could see one day for Takayama and the next to visit Shirakawa-go on the way to Kanazawa.

   As you already have a good 22 days, I feel that you do not have time for Okinawa, so better just return to Tokyo. You can save Okinawa for your next trip and do it with Kyushu.

10. This advice is not very organized, fair warning.

    To where you’re staying, I’d honestly suggest going in on a taxi. Google Maps suggests you’d be looking at north of 3,000 yen. More than reasonable. Alternatively, Google Maps suggests hopping a limousine bus to Kamata Station and riding a few stops to Chidori-cho. That would take about the same amount of time but do you really wanna do that?

    To be honest, echoing what others are saying, maybe consider staying somewhere else for your Tokyo swing. You said it’s refundable, right? See about staying closer in, like in Asakusa or Ueno. And also, you’re planning this for March. Do you even know for sure Japan will let tourists in by then?

    If you’re coming from the US, speaking from experience, you may be up ass early on that first full day. Consider turning lemons into lemonade and trying to view the tuna auction at Toyosu Market.

    It seems like you want to do *a lot.* I respect that but your feet might not.

    As for the rest of your trip, I’d prioritize Hiroshima, Kyoto and Osaka. Hiroshima is the furthest south of the three but you can base yourself in Osaka and Kyoto’s like next door and Hiroshima is an hour and a half away by shinkansen, if you only want to do a day trip there. My point is you should figure out what travel plans cause the least amount of hassle.

    Speaking of, once you do know what cities you’re going to visit and when, go to Hyperdia and run numbers on train tickets to see whether Japan Rail Passes are worth it and for how long.

    As for Nagano, that’s in the other direction from Tokyo. You’d have to transfer twice to get to Tokyo Station and ride the rails for two hours. I would say consider flying in but the closest airport is a long bus ride away and doesn’t serve anywhere on your wishlist. JAL has seasonal service from Osaka Itami but I’m not sure what season that is. And Okinawa, that’s obviously a flight.

    There’s a lot to do in Osaka but you’ll definitely want to explore Kyoto. See the old palace and such, they have English tours you can go sign up for day-of.

    Hiroshima, I sign onto that because I believe anybody who has the means to visit the park and the cenotaph and the museum ought to do so. I still think about my visit to the museum fairly regularly. It was deeply affecting, not just as an American but as a human. Also, lighter note, there’s a hole in the wall okonomiyaki joint near the station called Sankanou. It’s run by a guy who’s a huge fan of Gundam, huge fan of the Carp and he’s not ashamed of showing off either. They have an English menu, I believe. They might have had one at the time I visited, I don’t remember that part. I obviously must’ve figured something out lol

    Tokyo, you want to go to the Mori Art Museum. Great modern art, English-friendly. Speaking of museums, if you want to do the Ghibli Museum, you need to get a reservation ahead of time through JTB.

    As for Tokyo Disneyland, I feel like if you’re doing Disney, you’re doing it for the day. That park alone is about the size of Magic Kingdom. And then there’s DisneySea.

    Osaka has a Universal Studios park. They have Super Nintendo World, they have Spidey and Harry Potter and Snoopy. So, I don’t know, consider that.

11. What is your budget if I may ask?

12. I went for a similar amount of time for my honeymoon and I won’t go in to full details but my #1 advice for you after reading your post is that travelling between cities eats up time and eats up your energy.

    We had planned Tokyo > Hakone > Osaka > Kanazawa > Kobe > Hiroshima > Tokyo and after Osaka we were just wrecked and cancelled Kanazawa and Kobe (benefit of free cancellations). Just a word of warning I guess. Before travelling my expectations were to see EVERYTHING and tick off my list of must-sees and so on, but as you get there you realise that travelling can be tiring.

    My only other thing to say though is definitely go to Hiroshima.

13. Others have already said the same thing, but you might want to rethink your Tokyo hotel. It’s not exactly conveniently located as a “base”.

    I’ve stayed a few times at the Nishitetsu Inn Kamata, which quite close to the area as your hotel, but the Kamata JR station area is much more convenient. It’s still not on the Yamanote ring line but the JR station is on the Keihin-Tohoku line, which gets you into Shinagawa/Tokyo/Akihabara reasonably quickly. The area is great too: lots of restaurants and shops. Last what I really liked about the Nishitetsu Inn is the bath area: it’s not a unit bath and very spacious.

    That said, as a base in Tokyo I might even pick something even more central, like near Shibuya/Shinjuku or Asakusa if your budget allows it.

14. Okinawa is doable but it’s the sort of place where you need to rent a car to get around and then you need to drive on the wrong side of the road and it’s not easy. The main city, Naha, isn’t interesting, the sites are all located outside the city.

    Like others have said, your choice of hotel location is really, really inconvenient. Try to stay in Shinjuku or even just stay in central Yokohama and visit Tokyo during the day times.

    I always recommend that people stay in Osaka and visit Kyoto on day trips, there’s no reason to change hotels between Kyoto and Osaka they are only about 30 minutes apart by train.

15. My boyfriend dreams of taking a trip to Japan. Could I ask how much this trip cost you?

16. Nature:

    If you’re in the area while visiting Tokyo, consider visiting the [Todoroki Ravine](https://www.google.com/maps/place/Todoroki+Ravine+Park/@35.605444,139.6193374,13z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x71ab45cd45edb2b9!8m2!3d35.605444!4d139.6456016) park. It’s pretty, and an easy, short visit while in Tokyo.

    Food and drink:

    * If you have the budget for it, find a nice ryokan to stay in one night. It’s a good experience, and the dinner that comes with the stay can be spectacular. And if it comes with an onsen, that’s a good self-care experience added in.
    * Try to drop into a department store’s food hall ([article](https://tokyocheapo.com/food-and-drink/depachika-underground-food-halls-tokyo/)) and check out/sample the huge array of food and snacks on offer. Major train stations have them. There are a few in Ginza you can check out as well.
    * You could consider going to an old-school (or old-school style) coffee shop called a [kissaten](https://theculturetrip.com/asia/japan/articles/a-tour-of-tokyos-traditional-kissatens/) for some coffee, tea, or desserts.

    Airport transportation:

    I agree with the other poster that if you stick with your current choice accommodation, it might be worth it to get a taxi.

    If you decide to change accommodations and you elect to use traains, be sure to study the train station maps (Google or otherwise) before you go and figure out which exit is the correct one for you leave the station by for your hotel, so that you don’t spend time wandering around the station while already exhausted from the flight.

    Doubly true if your terminus station is a large one, like Tokyo Station. Those stations can feel overwhelming the first time you enter one, especially right after a long flight.

    As a side note, I also agree with the other posters who said that Kyoto is a great place to set up base camp to explore the other cities in the vicinity. This was exactly what I did for my last trip to Japan. I’d just be aware of how close the hotel is to the nearest station, and how far it is from Kyoto Main Station as well. My hotel for that trip was cheap and decent, but with walking, also 25+ minutes door to door from the hotel to Kyoto Station, and that got tiring after a while.

17. I’m saving this tread for when I go to Japan

18. Remember March could still be very cold in Tokyo. Make sure you bring proper clothing.

    Tokyo Disneyland and Disney Sea is not a half day activity. In fact, to really enjoy it you may want to dedicate a day at each location and stay at an official hotel so you can receive the special perks like fast passes and early entry to the parks. Its an amazing place and in my opinion well worth a couple days.

19. Sorry to be the bearer of tragic news – Robot Restaurant is closed permanently.

    Tokyo Disney sea is a great park for both adults and kids and is very unique. Tokyo Disneyland is very much like magic kingdom in Florida and disneyland in California.

    Hiking either Mt. Takao or Mt. Mitake would be nice. If you’re planning on seeing Sakura, you might have better luck by traveling south during that time frame, so would recommend to build some flexibility in to the back end of the trip.

20. I lived in Kanazawa and it was amazing but the city is pretty packed together and if you guys like walking, it can be done in a day. The outdoor market, castle and Higashi Chaya are all within a kilo of each other easily.

    I would combine Asakusa with your southern Tokyo day and have a day for Yokohama ! Only like 20 min outside Tokyo and China town and minato Mirai are both amazing to visit !

    Okinawa would be hard to squeeze in.
    Everything else sounds great 🙂

21. a very small reminder that the weather in Okinawa can be very different from Tokyo and other “norther” part of Japan. So mine what kind of clothes you guys are packing. While March can be cold in Tokyo, it might start feeling like summer in Okinawa

22. Okinawa – while far – can easily be fit into a 4 weeks itinerary. There are many cheap flights from Tokyo to Naha or even to remoter islands like Ishigaki. Also check out Visit Japan Airfare of ANA allowing you to get a one way ticket to anywhere in Japan for around 90 USD if you can prove that you have an international return ticket to Japan (with any airline). However, unless you are interested in the history of the island, March may be a little too early for the summer charm of Okinawa that those set of islands are famous for. The experience in Okinawa also really depends on which island you stay on (main or the smaller islands such as Kerama or Ishigaki). Since you mentioned that your boyfriend is into hiking and outdoors – I would suggest that you check out another island: Yakushima – a hiking heaven off the coast of Kagoshima. March is a very good season to be in Yakushima which offers peak hikes and also many lower elevation gentle trails. If you will have a Japan Rail Pass – you can travel to Kagoshima (also a nice city) and then catch the ferry to the island (direct flights from Osaka is also another option).

23. I feel like Asakusa could be bundled into the Sky Tree day — they are walking distance or a short train ride.

    Then you take the Imperial Gardens trip and match that with Akihabara, but don’t be surprised if you end up spending the whole day at Akihabara, if you both like that sort of stuff.

    If your partner / “lad”(?) wants to go to Tokyo Disney, that’s fine, just go to Tokyo Disney Sea as well. You could do half-day at each, or if he wants to keep exploring Tokyo Disney Land, you stay at Disney Sea.

    I don’t know your experience with international flights, but I would anticipate a minimum of 3 days before your internal clock adjusts. So don’t plan any “MUST SEE” stuff on the first 3 days. (Seems you’ve already planned for this.). I know a lot of first timers think “I will just stay awake on the plane and then sleep when I arrive” but (1) it’s actually difficult to do this, and (2) even if you succeed, it’s not going to completely reset the internal clock for most people in my experience.

24. If you take a day trip to Nikko, you could go to Toshogu Shrine and also to Kegon Falls (for that waterfall). Lake Chuzenji was also very pretty.

25. > Senso-ji temple, thunder gate for souvenirs, fortune @ Shinto shrine

    Maybe it’s just me, but what I saw at Senso-ji in regards to souvenirs were overpriced trinkets, a regular tourist trap (don’t get me wrong, the shrine itself is wonderful, especially at night).

    Consider going to Kappabashi street. It’s 10 minute walk from Senso-ji and you can find some beautiful Japanese pottery you will actually be able to use.

26. You do not need an entire day in Shibuya or Shinjuku.

27. My 2nd trip I Did 3 Weeks end of Oct/early Nov 2019 – Okinawa, Nagasaki, Fukuoka, Beppu, Kanazawa, Tokyo.

    1st trip was 2 1/2 weeks – Tokyo, Hakone, Kyoto (with a day at Himeji), Hiroshima, Miyajima, Kanazawa and Tokyo again.

    You can fly from quite a lot of airports on mainland Japan to Okinawa – I loved spending a week there (you can potentially spend a night on one of the other islands nearer Taiwan as well if you dont like the idea of being on Okinawa island for a week). Stayed in Itoman and hired a car (a must for Okinawa for minimal grief), the Southern Beach Hotel + Resort was decent (car parking, decent price, near a beach). Getting the ferry out to one of the surrounding islands is nice for a day trip (Diving was decent, nice sandy beaches clear water)

    You could then fly from Okinawa to Nagasaki (~ 3/4 nights depending on when you are flying), Shinkansen to Fukuoka (~3 nights), Beppu (bit slower trains but a nice place to go on the coast with a few Onsens – if I went again I’d probably drive from Fukuoka), Shinkansen to Hiroshima, ferry to Miyajima (i’d only spend 1 night here, its a nice place but you’ll do it all in 1-2 days for sure) . Glad I went to Kyushu, if you have 4 weeks I’d recommend at least dropping into Nagasaki + Fukuoka (Beppu is a little out of the way)

    From Hiroshima you can Shinkansen to Kyoto then from Kyoto to Osaka/Kanazawa/etc. Kanazawa definately worth 2/3 nights (again depending what time you get there, 2 full days there is nice)

    Osaka I spent 1 night there, maybee i’d like to go back for another night in future – I decided I wanted the extra time in Kyoto instead (i’d definately go for longer in Kyoto than Osaka, probably by a couple of days).

    Kyoto is a pretty big place and you can also go for a day trip to Himeji for the castle if you want.

    If you want a rest/relax before getting the flight back from Tokyo then Hakone is a nice little Onsen town thats worth a go for a night or two (the Ryokans are great, well worth staying at).

    Ultimately theres a lot of places I still havnt gone (Nagano, Sendai, Hokkaido, etcetcetc) – you won’t squeeze it all in. Remember that travelling too much will eat time, especially if you have to use local trains. Google maps estimates it reasonably, but care for it trying to take you on non-JR trains if you have the pass (well worth the money)